Anima
by Vixen7
Summary: A strange girl comes into Duo's life and brings with her enemys he never knew he had. **Reviews will make me finish this faster. :-D
1. Chap - 1

Anima

                Heavy boots clanked in the silent air, echoing through the wide, hollow docking area.  Shadows played on corners and crevices, giving the chilled air and uneasy aura.  A single dark figure walked alone, unfeigned by the cold dead feeling that swam through the air.  Over these past few years that was the least of this young boy's problems.  Though, no more was he a boy, wars and deaths surrounded him wherever he went, leaving no peace.  He had matured through battle wounds that were not just flesh bound, but in his soul, to leave himself known as the God of Death.  He would not let it show that this disturbed him, would let no one know.  That part of him would forever be held within a mask that showed his once happy spirit, this mask would conceal all emotion, forever.

                Shaking off a trailing mind Duo began to think about the better things, ones that would help lift his heavy spirit.  A now freshly repaired gundam rest in the wide spaces of the room.  It had been recently in a battle and was uncharacteristically tattered when first brought for repairs.  A sleep-deprived pilot had worked on the Gundam for roughly 22 hours now.  When working on something important Duo never let his mind wander so he could have complete concentration.  He was glad that this skill was well learned, for something had been bothering him.  Though…he wasn't quite sure what.  He remembered bits and pieces of a dream that he had a few days ago that would pop into his mind any chance it got.  Why this little thing was distracting him so much, he didn't know.

                Duo sighed again as he began to think of that dark, foreboding face that had flashed through his head that night in his restless sleep.  That face had kept him up the rest of the night, the way it was so cold and emotionless.  Rubbing aching eyes Duo proceeded in thinking of other things to keep his mind occupied. Possibly, this was the cause of him not hearing anything other than the clanking of his own boots on the high walkway.  That is what Duo wanted to believe, for no one was stealthier than he.

                Even though that arrogant thought of his had much intensity in his mind the sight before him made him think again.  Boots stopped dead at the sight of the intruder before him, crouched low beside and somewhat behind the doorframe about six feet ahead of him.  In the dim light it was hard to truly make out any distinct features, only a silhouette.  Whoever it was crouched on one knee, the other placed solidly in front, the foot stable on the ground.  The right hand was placed lightly on the propped knee while the rest of the arm hung limp; the left hand was gingerly placed on the floor, as if it might break.  The most intriguing to Duo was the fact that the head was held high and with confidence as if nothing was going to hurt this intruder.  _We'll see about that,_ thought Duo.

                Duo had scrutinized this character in no less the 5 seconds while drawing out his gun.  He pointed it with great aim at the middle of the intruder's forehead.  He may not be able to see details but he knew where that was.  With as much ferocity in his voice as he could muster he stated bluntly,  "Who are you?"

                The intruder did not answer, only remained as still as if it were only a statue.  Duo began to have his doubts, maybe his famished mind and heavy eyes were beginning to play tricks on him.  His own thought that he was hallucinating made Duo mad and he told himself it could not be true, the adrenaline rush at the sight of an intruder completely awakened him.  No, that person was there and quite brave or too scared to move, though he didn't bet on the latter of that assumption even though he wanted to.

                Duo began to grow impatient at just standing there with his gun held high at what could most likely be a shadow.  With more anger that he intended he interrogated the intruder again, "How did you get in here? Who are you?"

                Once again, the intruder did not move, did not say a word, no sound what so ever.  It was becoming increasingly odd when in the breaks of silence Duo could almost hear his own heart beat if his breath weren't so loud.  But not a sound came from that figure, not even a twitch of movement.

                Duo's eyes were completely adjusted now to the dim light and were straining to see any sign of detail on the intruder.  Taking a somewhat quiet and deep breath he ventured at step closer…and another…and a half step more.  All the while he kept his gun point blank and steady on the target, also making sure his composure was as tall and intimidating as possible.  He took a shallow breath and strained his eyes a bit to get a better look.

                At this close of a distance he could see vague details in the dim stillness.  The intruder was female with wild, shadowed hair to about her mid back, there wasn't enough light to make any distinct color.  Her facial features were soft and a little narrow.  Though he could make out no eyes color, her eyes themselves were deep set and cast dark shadows far into them.  Her lips were curved into a stoic, unflinching line across her face.  Her figure was slim and muscular; Duo could tell she was wearing somewhat of tight fitting clothing, enough to tell the well-built, muscular features that well suited her composure.

                After Duo had sized her up he was about to call out another threat to her, hoping eventually he would get out of her an answer.  But as he opened his mouth to speak she stood, ending up to be just as tall as he was and just as intimidating.  She took a smooth step forward, leaving her dark spot in the doorway and letting the dull light from the high ceiling flow down half her face, casting eerie shadows over her.

                "Stop!" Yelled Duo.  He wasn't upset about the fact that he could now see her face now but there was becoming an increasingly small space between them, making him quite uncomfortable.  She looked completely unarmed, giving him the obvious advantage, but the Gundam pilot had learned hard and well not to trust anyone.

                One step was all she took past the doorframe before she stopped, whether it was by her own reasons or by his threat he did not know.  She brought the other foot up fluidly and stood uniform and composed, tall slender figure completely unyielding.  Her entire composure was hard and cold, emotionless, even her wild dark blonde hair seemed to be somewhat dull as it hung unruly about her shoulders.  Duo had a sudden thought that she reminded him greatly of Heero…except for her eyes.  His attention was drawn to those deep pools of blue eyes, so intensely set, but yet there was something hidden in them.  Though he did not mover he stared deep in to her eyes, captivated by them, there was something about them.  He finally placed it; there was great emotion swirling through those deep eyes.  There was sorrow and pleading agony, but most of all there was fear.  Such a great fear that it seeped into Duo's own gut, though he noticed the fear wasn't because of him, there was someone else here, and she was terrified of whoever it was.  Duo then realized that she was trying her best to warn him, but her eyes were locked and never strayed from his.  She could do nothing to help him, he tried to pull up his senses, notice someone else in the room without showing it.  A stray hair from Duo's ragged braid fell past his face breaking for a second the deep stare the two shared.  He tried to find a hint of where the danger was in her eyes but could receive nothing but a more tangible fear that radiated from her.  It began to seep down into him, making his adrenaline rush, but try as he might, the fear would not subside.

                _He is going to shoot_, worry began to consume her.  _He is going to shoot because I moved…I had no choice, no choice.  _These thoughts flew through her mind, letting them consume her though she wanted to be brave.  This would please her "master", she hated to call him that even though he was right, what else would he be to her?  He forced her here to be shot by someone who didn't know better, by a battle stressed boy.  She tried fruitlessly to get her reeling mind under control.  Somewhere in the back of her mind though, she was strong and confident, knowing that the plan was proceeding perfectly.

                _Are you afraid little one? _he sneered in her mind, _Why, I thought this noble warrior of yours knew right and wrong. Your life is in his hands, and he shall not save you._

                She was torn inside as the thoughts swirled through her mind, causing an image of what would soon happen as a bullet sliced through the air toward her head.  She willed the vision to go away, nothing was happening yet, only a stare off between her and a Gundam pilot.

                Suddenly, he stiffened, he must have seen the fear in her eyes, knew that she feared for his safety.  He was trying to tell where the others were in the room. That noble deed to save her, despite that she was an intruder to him, would get him killed.  As she had seen it, so did they, causing her master to become infuriated.  His plan would not fall apart yet; he would break his stubborn girl if it killed him.  He was calling out commands to his partner, unaware that his stubborn girl knew everything he planned.  She had trained herself outside the training she was forced to endure, this gave her a capability to do things they didn't know she was anywhere near able to do.  

                Though the Gundam pilot heard nothing but dead air, she heard the thought process go through her captors' minds.  They were going to kill her and Duo at the exact same moment.  Duo knew too much for their liking. Their logic to be able to eliminate him from his own world would be?  _The war is almost over, they have no use for him. He's better off out of the picture._  It was all her fault Duo was about to die, this was her time to escape, and all costs lay on how much he would trust her.  With that last thought she concentrated on feeling the moment when they were going to shoot.  That moment where the mind only told the nerves to pull the trigger…

                NOW!

                She leapt out as fast as lightning and with cat-like grace before they could have a second thought and collided with her Gundam pilot.  Poor Duo didn't know what to think or have anytime to react as he hit the ground hard and slid diagonally back towards the railing.  As his head hit the railing it was shoved upward to see the two large bullet holes right where he had been standing.  She wasted no time as she quickly popped back up to her feet.  Using her crouched position to her advantage, she hurled herself backwards in a high flip and landed silently on her hands.  She sensed more bullets being shot towards her, so she changed her angle of movement more towards the right so that the bullets missed her cleanly.  She landed solidly on the other side of the ramp and on top of the safety rail.  Her fingers wrapped securely around the smooth cold surface of the bar to have a more stable balance as she looked to her left to see the other armed captor.  He held a small laser cannon over his shoulder steadily; his blank unemotional state of being showed that he was trained to be a soldier.

                As the soldier twisted to the side a shot rang out that came from neither of her captors.  Realizing it was Duo she snapped her head around to see a look of stubborn determination on his face, outlined with fear.  His eyes showed a look of utter surprise that the soldier had dodged his bullet before it was shot.  Not knowing what her master was capable of, he would be easy pickings.  She couldn't let this happen! She just couldn't!

                _What's the matter little one? _She grimaced at the nickname he gave her and looked over to see him coolly walking out of his dark corner behind the doorframe with a cocky look on his face.  _You seem so worried, do you not have faith in your noble hero?  That's a good thing, that way you won't be disappointed when he dies. _

                A cold look crossed his face as he raised his gun to take well-trained aim at Duo.  A very strong sinking feeling clenched her stomach as Duo turned his fascinated gaze to meet hers.  To her surprise duo tossed his gun to her, as she caught it she realized this also threw off her master.  Taking the opportunity she turned and quickly situating the gun in her hand fired at him.  She gave of no sign that she was about to shoot, therefore her master dogged it too late and took the bullet in his shoulder.  A sudden, faint smile crossed her face but was gone before it made its presence known.

                The soldier took a shot at her, forcing her to fall back a great deal behind the rail to be able to dodge it, loosening her grip on the rail.  Before she could regain her balance, an infuriated master hit the rail with in credible force that shook the entire walkway.  Loosing all of her balance she fell backwards off the ramp, her master had been so enraged that he spontaneously hit the rail, giving no sign to prepare her for it.  Thinking quickly as she fell she hurled her weight backwards to get somewhat under the walkway.  Legs kicked out wildly trying to find the chain seen earlier that dangled down only a short way.  

                She found it.  Quickly she wrapped her left ankle around the chain and pushed her foot back to keep a solid hold on it.  Her body jerked as her descent came to a sudden halt, but as her body weight pulled at her ankle a sharp pain stabbed through it.  Ignoring it she pulled herself up quickly and took a hold of the chain with her free hand.  The chain loosened on the now sprained ankle and she let it fall thankfully away.  Small nooks in the chain began to cut into the palm of her hand as she tightened her grip on it.  Once again ignoring that fact she slid the gun in her other hand into the waistline of her pants and tried to see what was going on above her head.

                Duo clenched his blood covered right forearm in his other hand as he ran wildly about across the walkway.  All the zigzagging and bobbing up and down and doubling back on his steps kept his two enemies from getting a clear shot at him.  It also reminded her of a phrase from her past, he looked like "a chicken with its head cut off".  Since her memories of the past had been long since deleted, she had no idea why or where that thought had come from.  Scolding herself for letting her mind wander she focused more on what was at hand.  Duo had spun around because her master had become so infuriated at not getting a clear shot, he had charged at the young boy.  A sharp grunt escaped Duo as his back hit hard against the railing.  Wasting no time, her master pushed as hard as he could on the pilot's upper chest knocking him backwards off the rail.  In a last ditch effort to do _something_ Duo had brought his leg up quickly to give a hard blow under his attackers chin.

                The momentum from kicking his leg so hard caused him to flip over around the bar, though falling feet first wasn't going to help him.  He was so high up that nothing would save him from the fall.  Thoughts raced through his mind, loudly.  She heard them all and knew her master could too.

                _Why did I turn on the gravity?  Lazy me couldn't just wear the magnetic boots?  No, I had to "just forget it, I'm going to bed". _

                Duo's braid flew wildly behind him and came close to where she held on to her chain.  Reaching out as best she could she manage to grab a hold of it.  She felt hair jerked from the roots as his weight caught up to him and he swung towards her.  Thankfully there was enough of it and wasn't all painfully ripped from his head.  She quickly shot her right leg out in front of his face as he was crying out in pain.  He didn't notice it right away considering his eyes were clenched tight and wet with a few uncontrollable tears.  Only knowing there was something in front of his face he took hold of it, not caring what it was.  Now that he had a firm grip on her leg she let go of his hair, hearing a sharp breath come from him as it fell back loosely to its former position.

                Blinking away his blurred vision he looked up with red eyes to see what he was holding onto.  He didn't seem that surprised to see that it was her, in fact he seemed pleased that it was her.  She was a bit surprised at this and was distracted for only a moment as she looked into those deep eyes that were now tinged with happiness, not death.

                She tore her eyes away and looked up at that clattering noise as her master began to look for where she was hanging.  "The gravity controls!"  The noise rang in her ears, for they were unaccustomed to sound, as she looked down at the source.  Duo! Of coarse he had spoken, only he could, and she watched him in a bit of aw as he nodded his head over to a far corner in the room.  There was a small control panel located there that had a small green light flashing.  She pulled out her gun and fired at it, sparks flew and bits of metal shot out from the controls.  Suddenly a great weight was taken from her as the gravity in the room was taken away.  She let go of the chain and reached up to the bottom of the platform to give an extra push that sped up their descent to the ground.

                The loss of gravity threw off her captors, but only for a little bit.  Soon enough they were ready and willing to maneuver with great ability in the weightlessness.  They weren't falling fast enough and it would cost them in the end.  There was nothing near her to push off of and give boost and movement.  Duo sensed her concern and with great effort pulled down on her leg causing her to fly down towards the floor.  In reaction Duo was sent upwards and at a bit of a slant, he was heading in the direction of his Gundam.  Maybe that was his plan all along.

                _That won't help him any_. The dark voice rang through her mind and chilled her.  As she hit the cold hard surface of the floor she bent down to control her movement and not send her back up again before it was time to.  Quickly looking up she looked at the positions of her captors.  The soldier stayed on the platform but had moved around to get better, more deadly, shots at his enemies.  Her master on the other hand had different ideas.  He had already left the platform and was heading towards her, gun raised.  She fired before he was able to and then jumped out of the way, narrowly missing his shot at her.

                Spiraling out of the way of two lazar cannon beams, her master hurled himself at her with incredible force and speed.  She tried to dodge out of the way but he had better push-off than she.  He collided with her and knocked her back against the wall, knocking over a tool bench on the way.  Her arm was pinned against the wall by his elbow as he raised his arm, leaving her gun useless.  He pulled up his gun and pressed it against the side of her head so hard a sharp pain was sent through her, causing her eyes to have a throbbing twitch to them.  An evil smile drew upon his face at the look of suffering and he fed on it like the monster he was.  She couldn't let it end this way…

                Out of the corner of her eye she saw a wrench floating up along with various other tools.  Not knowing what else to do she plucked it from the air faster than she's ever moved before and bashed him on the side of the head with it.  Stunned, his head flew to the side and he stumbled, giving her time to get away before he regained his balance.  Flying past the floating fragments of blood that grazed her face she was somewhat pleased by it, knowing that damage had been caused.  This gave her a sick feeling inside, yet one of great pleasure…revenge could come in the smallest of forms yet leave such a bitter taste.

                Trusting complete strangers wasn't one of his best ideas, but what other choice did he have?  She actually made some good use with that gun, unlike him.  Duo raced up his Gundam to get to the cockpit, he could waste no time.  His head was throbbing, his right arm was practically useless after it being shot, and to make things better he was being fired at.  He had no idea what kind of weapon that guy was carrying (Hell! He didn't even know who these people were.) but it was deadly.  Trying more to get in a position that the man couldn't fire upon him wasn't working out as planned.  This maniac had the entire ramp to move around on.  His only chance was to get to the cockpit before being killed.  A beam shot past his head, singeing his hair, and making a rather large burnt dent in his newly repaired Gundam.  Not only giving him more of an inkling to get to his destination quicker, it had infuriated him.  This guy was going down.

                A prayer of thanks murmured out of Duo's lips once he reached the cockpit.  Quickly punching some buttons he found his target.  Knowing that his scythe didn't have enough room in this small of space, he'd have to use a missile.  This man was still firing on his Gundam pathetically from his spot on the ramp, which was a good distance away from that strange girl.  A missile being his only form of ammo didn't make him anywhere near hopeful that the entire docking area wouldn't collapse.  Saying another quick prayer he fired.  The missile hit dead on and nothing was left but chunks of metal and concrete.  Allowing a slight smile to come across his face he tried to assess any damage.  The outer wall was trying to implode because of the heat.  There was no other choice but to just run while he still had the chance, but what about…

                Looking over to the two other intruders he saw they were still in a full on fight.  The girl fired again and tore open the other guy's skin, it was no deadly shot but it had been intentional.  Then he saw it, a small charm floated out from the blood surrounding it.  It was too far away to make out any details on it but both of these intruders began frantically chase after it.  Duo hoped the girl would reach it, not really knowing why, he just did.  Suddenly she started spinning, firing at the man and distracting him long enough to take hold of it.  Furry raged in that man's eyes and the slammed into her, grabbing her wrist with his free hand.  This girl was risking her life for a jewel, why?

                This Gundam pilot couldn't stand by and just watch her die, he had blown up his hide out for her, if anything she was his prisoner of war.  Grabbing a spare gun he opened the cockpit door and took aim.  Hopefully they were both so distracted they wouldn't notice him.  As the man brought his gun up to her head, Duo brought his up to take aim at him.  Wasting no time Duo shot and was dead on, in more than one sense.  The man's eyes glazed over and he drifted side ways from the force of the bullet.  The girl jerked he hand free from his cold grip and tried to get away from him frantically as if he were still a threat.

                Suddenly the guy just vanished in a gust of wind that came from nowhere that seemed to carry a kind of fog with it.  The man's weapon was gone, his floating blood, the small pieces of burnt clothing, it had all just vanished.  The girl seemed not a bit surprised but was more interested in her charm.  A loud wrenching and squeaking noise told Duo that the wall wasn't going to take much more. He stared yelling at the entranced girl to move but she just stayed there, staring at her little jewel with wide, almost entranced eyes.

                If things hadn't been weird enough already something even better happened.  This girl had brought the charm (that was now glowing) and pressed it to her throat.  The light was a blinding flash that made Duo squint and turn his head away.  When he looked back there was no sigh of the charm, only a small pink spot on the girls neck.  She was now just floating there, limp, and looked completely exhausted.  The wall wrenched again and Duo knew he could waste no more time, and he couldn't just leave her here.  Getting back inside his Gundam, but leaving the cockpit open, he ordered it to reach out and push her towards him.  Quickly getting ready to catch her from the cockpit, he wasn't quite expecting her to be drifting so fast.  She slammed into him and sent him crashing into the rest of his Gundam.  Giving a slight groan he got up with her in his arms and proceeded back into the Gundam.

                There wasn't much extra room behind his seat in the cockpit but it would have to do.  He eyes were closed, but when he set her down she opened them only a little with tired, groggy eyes.  She was taking in her surroundings with a very confused expression on her face.

                "It'll be alright," he tried to sooth her fearful eyes.  She looked at him, surprise outlined her features as if he had done something fascinating.  She gave a weak smile and then fell unconscious.

                Making sure everything was secure Duo got the Hell out of there as quick as possible.  Once he was a good distance away from his so-called "hide out" he contacted a small landing area in the middle of nowhere on Earth.  Maybe he could get a little sleep there, and most of all, the place wouldn't be that easy to find...he hoped.  Thoughts of what had just taken place started to flood his mind.  Why did he trust that girl with his life?  Who were those other men?  How does he know she won't just wake up and kill him?  How had that man just disappeared?  What was the flash of light he'd seen?  Had he really seen it?  Suddenly, one particular thought crossed his mind, one he couldn't shake, one that he turned over and over in his mind to show himself he was wrong.  Never once had any of them made a sound, spoke a word, made a squeak of their shoes, or made any sound when they were breathing.  Maybe it was all in his mind, he had been deprived of sleep for a long time now.  After all, he heard her breathing deeply now, off in her world of peace.  Duo became a bit jealous of the fact that she was able to sleep.  He brushed it off and finished out the rest of his trip to earth trying to think and hear nothing but of the soft breath of slumber behind him.

                A soft buzzing rang through the morning air, rattling in Duo's ears, giving him no peace.  Trying to block out the noise by covering up his head with his pillow wasn't helping much.  The noise seemed to grow louder as he pressed his pillow against his ears.  It finally hit him what the noise was as his sleepy mind began to sluggishly process information.  His watch was sounding the alarm he had set the night before, that way he wouldn't sleep over and could keep an eye on that girl.  The girl!

                Shooting up right in his bead Duo looked at his watch, reading 10:00am meant it had going off for three and a half hours now.  Duo jumped out of bed and ran towards the door of his small bedroom.  When he had come to this small docking area on earth, he had paid for a small room, with a tiny bathroom just for the night.  He hadn't known what time he managed to get in the bed, but he knew he couldn't sleep for long.  So Duo didn't bother to take off any of his clothes and ended up asleep in seconds.  He was completely awake now as he ran down the hall to a small storage department he had locked her up in.  He wanted to keep a better eye on her but he didn't know how hostile she would end up being towards him and didn't dare risk his life.  And even though he had locked the storage room and padlocked it, handcuffed and tied her up with some chains and rope he saw lying around, it didn't surprise him much to see she wasn't where he left her.  The handcuffs were by the chair, the rope and chains were strewn about and the padlock was broken off.

                Running back down the hall Duo was frantically looking into rooms and darting down other hallways.  A lot of screaming and pots flying brought Duo to a stumbling halt in front of the back door to the small cafeteria.  Only those who worked full time in the complex were allowed to go there, it contained only the kitchen and a small table, and better yet, you had to make your own food.  Before Duo could even reach for the door a fuming lady in a dirty navy blue maintenance outfit came bursting out.  Following her came a man in the same sort of outfit, just as mad and still screaming in a Spanish tongue.  The girl turned to Duo and began to scream at him in a Spanish as well and pointed at the door, he understood only the Spanish term for "girl" and rushed past her through the door while she still screamed at his back.

                Duo ran into the closed in warm room with his gun raised, clearing out the rest of the workers from the room as they mumbled something about "things are just getting better".  Hearing some rustling around of one final person, Duo cautiously walked around the corner of a large rack of shelves and quickly spun around them, aiming at whoever was there.  An empty container of food flew past his head before he even saw what was coming.  Looking up he saw her there, on top of a counter, slinging containers and plates and other dishware in every direction.  As he looked around he saw that, every cabinet was open, every drawer was pulled out, no shelf had a single content in place, and the refrigerator door was open with all the contents of it thrown everywhere.

                "What are you doing?!"  He screamed it out before he could really think what he was doing and his gun wavered a bit.

                She turned around to him looking quite stunned and straightened up giving Duo a better look at her.  She wore tight black leggings and a matching, sleeveless shirt in which the left side overlapped the right in a slant from her right shoulder to her left hip causing a "V" in the neckline.  She would have looked very nice in the outfit if it had not been completely soiled with food.  Her hair was a mess and there were deep circles under her eyes.  She was breathing deeply and it almost seemed that her legs were going collapse at any moment under the weight of her own body.  Yet, of all that, the look on her face seemed to force itself back to being dark and intimidating.

                With quite a bit of effort the opened her mouth and spoke to him with a hoarse voice, "When I came into this…room, they attacked me and stole my-", suddenly her slurred speech stopped and her hands flew to her stomach as an extremely loud grumbling emitted from it.  As her face paled a bit she tore open another cabinet and began to tear everything out of it once again.  He was about to say something when she pulled out a package of old, forgotten nutrition pellets from the back of a cabinet.  She ripped open the package and ate the quickly without a second thought making Duo's stomach lurched and he tried not to gag at the sight of it.

                "A person can not be that hungry…" Duo mumbled under his breath.  It surprised him that she had actually heard him mutter that (though it'd seem he'd be used to surprises by now) and she turned around to glare at him.  She gestured to a trail of red on her arm as her excuse for she was unable to say anything because she was still chewing the pellets.  Duo then realized that the mark on her arm wasn't food, but blood, the spot from which blood poured from was surrounded by a gruesome black and green bruise.

                Struggling to keep her voice steady and as unslurred as possible she tried to explain to him what it was.  "It was my source of nutrition, I would not have to consume any food with it on.  Those people thought I was a spy and ripped it off and proceeded to attack me.  They hid it for me somewhere in this room because they feared I would be able to steal it back, and I would have. Unfortunately, with it off every cell in my body craved food and I became starved and went on a rampage for food.  Those people then believed I was a slave and some have gone now to call security.  I was not pleased that I lost control but you could help me out by helping search for it.  It will be hard to miss considering nothing in this underdeveloped facility has anything near that technology."

                With that she turned back around and started searching again.  Duo just stood there not knowing what to think.  Then he heard footsteps of heavy boots coming down the hallway.  He couldn't afford to be caught here or with this girl in their custody rather than his.  Running over and taking hold of her wrist he pulled her off the counter and almost made her fall on top of him.  Looking into her eyes for more intensity of the statement he said bluntly, "We have to go now."

                She had a defiant look on her face that didn't give much hope to Duo. "If I don't find it in the course of three hours then it will automatically destruct!"

                "Good, then no one will be able to find it again."  He wasn't going just stand here and argue with her forever.  Even if this device was real she could get over and eat normally like everyone else.

                As he dragged her along with him out the front door of the kitchen he was beginning to find it harder to keep his grip on her.  He had a feeling if she hadn't been so weak and shaky he would be the one to be dragged around.  Ignoring that thought he made his way to the docking area as quick as possible.  His Gundam was now in a carrier, so he had to go through the trouble of getting her up into the cockpit and strapped into a seat.

                "Stay."  He pointed his finger at her nose when he said the command.  It was a simple enough for her to just stay there and not do anything, right?

                Ignoring the glare she shot him he put away his gun and settled himself into the pilot's seat.  Duo had never left a docking area that fast in his entire life. He had a rush of relief go through him when he made it to space.  Setting the carrier to somewhat of an autopilot so that it wouldn't go anywhere unparticular he whirled around to face the girl.  It didn't surprise him much to see that she was out of the seatbelts and harness Duo had put on her.  She sat there with her arms crossed, one leg lightly crossed over the other, and a death glare on her face.

                Ignoring the dread feeling he was getting from the look on her face he tried to lighten his mode. "You need a bath," Even though he had said it off the top of his head, she really did.  He looked her up and down with a look of distaste.

                "A shower wasn't part of my accommodations when I awoke this morning."  She had said it so calm, yet it seemed to drop the temperature in the room a few degrees.

                "What did you expect me to do?  I didn't know what you were capable of, for all I knew you would want to kill me!"

                A look of utter disgust and betrayal crossed her face in a flash, but it was gone just as fast to leave that cold look back on her face.  "I saved your life."  She said bluntly.

                Duo threw his hands up to ward of her icy look. "That may be true, but how am I supposed to know you just didn't want to save your own skin?  Trust at first sight isn't a thing that is in abundance in this day and age, as it shouldn't be."

                He almost though that anything he said wouldn't get through to her, but then she said something he didn't expect.  "Trust is what saved my life.  It's also what can take it from me."

                All Duo could do was blink at her.  She had said it with such sincerity and with so much emotion.  He didn't know she was capable of that, yet her face stayed the same cold look.  Then he noticed how much she was struggling to keep the emotion from showing on her anywhere at all.  She obviously didn't trust her voice any longer to help hide her secrets and refused to say anymore to Duo.

                With a sigh, Duo turned back around to his console and started looking for another place to stay.  The silence was starting to get to Duo when he was having no luck of finding a safe hideout.  Figuring it wouldn't hurt any to strike up conversation, he tried once again to get a sound out of her.

                "Since you don't feel like talking about what happened, let's talk about something else.  What's your favorite food?"  She didn't say anything.  Dumb question, that little gizmo she was looking for earlier should have answered that question for him.  "Do you like to listen to music?"  Dead silence.  Considering every sound she heard made her flinch in surprise, he should have guessed that a no.  "Where do you come from? Earth, colonies, orphan…" He trailed off when he heard her sharp intake of air.  Turning around to face her, Duo saw a look of pain trying to be hidden again.  He almost thought it to be her hunger pains again…but the look was far more emotional.

                Not thinking before he spoke Duo said, "You wanted me to trust you.  So trust me.  Tell me what's going on or I can't help."  He hoped dearly that he wouldn't regret what he said.  Maybe she would actually tell him and not turn away from him more.  Anyone else might find it a trick to get information out of him or her but…he meant it.  He wanted to know, to help her, and he wasn't quite sure why.

                She blinked at him and seemed to have a look of concentration on her face.  Most likely trying to see if Duo really meant what he said.  Closing her eyes she dropped her head down to keep all emotion from being seen.  She whispered almost to low for Duo to hear.  "My memory was erased.  What I learned from my past stays with me, but my life, my home, my friends and family, are all gone." She paused a moment, trying not to let her voice crack.  What she said next was louder and had more hatred in its tone.  "Just one of my 'morals' that he took from me in order to corrupt me."

                Duo was shocked by her sudden use of emotion.  For a moment he almost didn't believe her, that it was all a trick to deceive him.  Then she looked up, and he saw it on her face.  That was no trick.  He tried to get more out of her while he still could.  "Who's 'he'?"

                "My '_master_'." She spat the word like a curse.  She apparently loathed this person with all her being; it chilled Duo to the bone.

                "Is that the guy you fought with?" It may have been risky that he ask again about what happened, but he truly wanted to know.

                "It was, and now he'll be after me again.  He doesn't lose well."

                "But he's dead, I saw you kill him and-"

                "And you saw him 'disappear in a breath of mist that left no trace of its being'." She sounded as if she had been quoting something… "He lives.  He went back for healing, back to his twisted paradise."

                "Where can you go that would recover you from a fatal wound?" Duo was starting to get skeptic.

                "To a place where time and death don't matter.  Where the 'lucky few' get their training and lose the soul and conscience.  A place where I escaped and refuse to go back." Her words made no sense to Duo, but the tone in them did.  She had escaped a prison, and she wasn't going back.  Duo of all people should understand that.  But logic rang in his head and refused to let Duo accept such a story that easily.

                "I'm supposed to believe all this?"

                "I didn't ask you to believe it.  You asked me, I answered, simple as that."

                Duo began to think back to all the things he _had_ seen that should prove to him that she didn't have to make sense.  He'd seen enough to make him compromise his own sanity, yet he had a feeling it could only get worse from here.  Looking into her eyes gave him a feeling that no matter what she said, no matter how absurd it sounded, no matter how much he didn't believe it, he would have to.  And almost like it was more of a whisper than his own thought something rang through his mind unpleasantly.  _If you don't believe it, you will die._


	2. Chap - 2

                Stars shined endlessly in the velvet of space.  Captured in time and stretched through space these magnificent giants were now only steady pinpricks of light in the darkness.  Even though they were being swallowed in black they pushed through to show that they were there, existed, and weren't easily forgotten.  Tiny pricks of light suddenly seemed to be so much more, hold so much more in reason in their being.  They are now a symbol of hope and strength, of peace in chaos, the soul of the universe that no one dares to extinguish.

                She closed her eyes, letting the stars' strength renew hers.  Watching those stars out the observation window in the small transport vesicle had been relaxing.  Sitting there for hours, clearing her mind had been just what she needed.  Of coarse, that had been the only thing she was allowed to do around the ship.  Ever since she and Duo had arrived here he had made sure that she stayed in one spot, and preferably didn't move.  She didn't blame him to be worried after all he's been through and seen since she'd arrived.  He needed a well-deserved break, but he wouldn't let himself have one.  In fact, he just made more work for himself all the time.  Maybe he was striving to keep his mind preoccupied, trying to leave his world behind.

                Sighing she readjusted herself once again on the hard metal bench.  She wasn't used to such long periods of relaxation, if you could call it that.  The air was stale and rusty, her seat was hard and cold, and her clothes were beginning to stiffen from the food earlier that began to dry out.  She looked over to the security camera in the far corner of the room.  The only room with a camera, much good it would do to watch her anyways.  She wasn't going to speak her "master plan" to the wall.

                She made a slight smile as she remembered Duo's failed attempt at an interrogation.  Not having as expert control in hiding emotions in her voice as in her face, she didn't trust to speak.  She refused to say one word to Duo.  He had become so frustrated that he began mumbling to himself about evil villains with master plans of taking over the world.  It had been quite amusing to her at the time, but she dared not show it on her face.  She actually began to wonder at that time if she was capable of great emotion on her face.  But that was too dreary a thought to dwell upon.

                Getting up she began to pace the room, she just couldn't sit any longer.  Not to long after she had begun to do so the door to opened, letting in a warm draft of air.  She wasn't surprised that Duo would come running because she had moved; she was surprised to find it wasn't Duo who had come.  A grizzly old man in dire need of shaving and unruly dark brown hair came stood in the doorway.  He nodded at her and smiled a bit locking his warm gray eyes with hers.

                "I'm the second in command of ship wide status, and I maintain perfect order on this ship.  Which means I'm maintenance/janitor and hold together this hunk-of-junk we call a ship." He chuckled and gave her a wide grin.  "Your friend had to go out on 'important business' and I was put in charge of watching the security cameras.  Of coarse the only one is the one with you in this room.  Your friend can't seem to figure out if you're a friend or prisoner.  I figure either way you've gotta be hungry and you don't seem to dangerous." He gave her a wink and jerked his head towards the door, "C'mon, I'll take you to the 'buffet'."

                He took a step into the room and stood beside the doorway waving his hand to indicate that she should leave first.  The thought of food had reminded her of how hungry she was and she couldn't just pass up that offer. Trying her best to conger up and thankful smile she walked out the door and towards the smell of food.

                "Look at her go!  Hey Brandstien, get another bag over here!"

                She was in the small kitchen eating as much food as she could get her hands on.  This didn't seem to mind the other crewmembers. Almost everyone had come down to see what was going on.  Bets were being placed at how many bags of nutrition pellets she could eat before she had to take a drink of water.  She was up to two and a half, which meant Harry had one more bag to go before he won.  Brandstein had bet on half a bag and now had everyone that bet's kitchen duty for a week.  Mary Alice began to chant "Drink! Drink!" when she was almost done with the bag she was on. Her bet was on three bags.  She could have made it to Harry's bet but he had been trying to flirt with her ever since he laid eyes on her.  Mary Alice seemed to be picked on by him all the time because of her bulky figure, she should win.

                She finished the bag and made a fake grimace that caused a roar of excitement echo through the kitchen.  She started slowly to reach for the fourth bag and Harry cheered her on.  At the last moment to grabbed her glass of water and downed it quickly.  Mary Alice threw her arms up in victory and began to collect her winnings and sarcastically talk about what she should do with all her new free time.  She looked at Mary Alice and smiled, it had been quite fun to do all this.  Surprisingly she wasn't really quite sure how this all got started, it just had when she saw a stray bag lying on a counter and began to eat them.  Denis, the janitor, came over and patted her on the back.

                "I think this girl deserves a treat after all that!" he announced over all the noise.  Everyone cheered in response and Brandstien brought out a small, covered plate.  Even though he had lost quite a lot he showed no resentment towards her and smiled widely as he set the plate in front of her.

                A slice of frosting covered chocolate pie was revealed as he took off the cover.  Denis handed her a fork while giving a slight bow to her.  He smiled and laughed and a few people gave applause.  She took the fork a bit awkwardly and sliced of a small piece from the end.  Everyone seemed to hold their breath as she brought the food to her mouth.  Making the suspense longer for her own amusement she slowly put the pieces into her mouth.  To her surprise, flavor burst through her mouth.  She hadn't expected it taste that good.  A look of content crossed her face and she closed her eyes, just enjoying the taste.  Everyone cheered and laughed bringing her back to reality.

                As she quickly brought her fork down for another bite the others began to go their separate ways.  Some stayed in the kitchen to eat and talk, others went back to their jobs in a hurry.  Harry, Denis, and Mary Alice all sat at the same small table with her.  She didn't much notice, as she was far too interested in what she was eating.  Harry began to laugh at the look of fascination on her face as she looked at the piece of pie.

                "You act as if you've never anything so wonderful in your life.  You're either a virgin or a very deprived young lady." He said bursting with laughter.

                Mary Alice added in, "Maybe she's just never had cooking as good as Denis's!"

                Swallowing what she had left in her mouth she looked over at Denis.  "You made this?" she said, pointing at the pie with her fork.

                "Sure did. I guess I forgot to mention 'kitchen help' in my title.  Couldn't much find a good way to state it really." He said in a chuckle.

                "How about 'master chef'," Mary Alice said with a flourish of her hand.

                "Ah, then I'd be lying!"

                "Well, my taste bud's say that title is right on the money."

                "She says that to anybody's cooking…" Harry said, pretending to mumble.

                Mary Alice smacked him on the back of the head and gave him a glare.  He only smiled at her widely and turned back to Denis.  "You'll get a swelled head with all these complements if you're not careful."

                She finished off the rest of her pie and scraped the plate with her fork making sure not to miss a crumb.  This made Harry laugh once again and he said, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind taste testing all of his new concoctions would ya Miss…" he looked at Denis for help.

                "That's a mighty good question.  I never did catch your name."

                Denis gave her an inquisitive look, expecting an answer.  But he had caught her off guard.  She really didn't know the answer to that question.  She lowered her head trying to think of something to say.  "I…um…"

                "You don't know your name?"  Mary Alice said quite concerned.

                All she could do was shake her head "no".  But just that answer didn't satisfy the worried lady and she was assaulted with questions.

                "Were you never named?  Do you have amnesia?  Is it that bad of a name? Are you sworn to secrecy?"

                Harry interrupted her and said, "Now that's going a little far with your imagination now don't you think?"

                She didn't know what to say. Denis was about to ask her something as well but right when he opened his mouth the kitchen door burst open.  In ran a very stressed, panic-stricken Duo.

                "Did I not make it clear enough that I DID NOT WANT HER MOVED!?" An hour later and Duo was still ranting. He had gone insane looking for her when he came back and the make shift cell was empty. Was everyone in this station nuts? You don't go making chit chat with someone you were told to lock up. How much simpler could this get? _Don't let her go anywhere_.

                Despite all else, Denis wasn't backing down. "You can't have her locked up in there all day starving for food. I heard her stomach growling all the way down the hallway."

                "Then you could have brought her something!"

                "It was easier to take her to it."

                "Oh! Don't let me get in the way of simplicity!" Duo fumed. They were back in front of the door of the "cell" with the mysterious girl safely back inside. Duo had already made sure to reprimand everyone else that had been involved in not putting her back, but Denis was getting the full blow. It was all mostly his fault and he ended up being the last one to receive Duo's wrath. Tried, angry, annoyed, and frustrated, Duo made sure this idiot got what was coming to him.

                "Well tell me something then." Denis's anger was rising even though he was trying hard to keep it down. "Just how dangerous is she?" he quirked an eyebrow, "Tell me one thing you know that she has done to make her such a threat." He demanded.

                Stumped, Duo paused. That was a very good question really. He couldn't name off a single thing that- No! He couldn't let this guy win! "That is of my concern only." He was going to try to say something else but Denis cut him off.

                "That's because you can't name off a single damn thing!"

                "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you!" Duo countered, "I think it might have been better if something had happened to you!"

                Not waiting for Denis to say anything Duo spun around and went into the room, making a note to slam the door in Denis's face. As hard footsteps echoed off down the hallway, signaling the other's leave, Duo stood by the door with his head in one hand trying to calm down.

                "He has a point you know." She said with a tinge of annoyance along with weariness.

                Duo looked up at her. She was leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly down. All Duo could do was glare at her and say scathingly, "Oh, _now_ you talk."

                She didn't respond in the slightest, just stared out the window at the stars. This didn't help Duo's temper and it caused him to kick the metal chair across the room. It banged against the wall very near her arm but she still didn't even flinch. Duo couldn't take it any longer.

                "Why me? Why not work your evil "good cop, bad cop" plan on some other Gundam pilot? What's so important about me?"

                She didn't say anything, didn't move, didn't make any sound at all. Duo fumed again. "Answer me!" he yelled. Still nothing.

                Charging over to her he grabbed hold of her arms and pinned her to the wall. He dug his left knee into her right to keep her from moving or trying to escape his grasp. If she did move it would break or sprain her knee; that was considering she could move. This got her attention. She looked up into his eyes with defiance but didn't make a twitch of resistance. Duo growled out his question again, "Why me?"

                A single strand of hair fell across her face. It needed to be washed, it was greasy and matted with god only knows what. The dim light played across that single strand causing it to shine and dull at the same time. A flicker of emotion cast through her eyes but it was gone before he was able to catch what it was. It seemed she realized that her eyes were trying to betray her so she shut them, but still kept her head up. As she took in a deep shaky breath Duo held his hoping that she might actually say something.

                "Noble. Valiant. Knows wrong from right." She whispered it, but it still sounded strained, as if she were trying to keep all emotion out of her voice. Duo wasn't sure why, but at least she was saying something. "That's what I thought of you as. What I insisted you would always be." She took in another long, unsteady breath. This really wasn't helping Duo though, he was only getting more confused. "_He_ tried to tell me I was wrong and that no one could be that perfect." Scathing was starting to creep into her voice as it became more strained. She was trying desperately to keep emotion out of her voice. Why? "_He_ was hoping you would kill me to prove me wrong. It was more of a last hope for him." She said the last sentence more exhaustedly and continued like that. "All my memory was gone except that one thought of you. Of a perfect solider that could stand up to what came at him and that I could manage as well. As long as I knew you were out there and saw of you what a I did…" her voice had been loosing volume the entire time and now it was just gone. Her head drooped a little and her eyes shut more tightly. He was loosing her, just when he was getting somewhere. He couldn't let her stop now.

                Placing a finger under her chin he forced her to look up. Her eyes opened in surprise and he saw faint traces of tears that she refused to let loose. Duo spoke softly as his voice betrayed his unexplainable concern for that girl, "How did you know about me?"

                She shook her head helplessly as she once again fought to get that stoic look back on her face. "I don't know." It came out in a choked whisper. Then she looked disgusted with herself for not having better control over her emotions in her voice as her face.

                Of all the things Duo could have thought at the moment only one came to mind, _She's beautiful_. Just everything about her really caused the thought. The way she tried so hard to hide such an abundance of emotions, he admired it. He always hid his with a smile, but she tried to Heero method of complete stoicism. But Duo had long ago given up hope that Heero could feel as many emotions as other after this war. But this girl had so many emotions running through her along with what seemed such a hard life and she hid them all. Hid them well, that is, until he had come along. Then again, what would have happened to her if he hadn't come along?

                That train of thought stopped where it was. He wasn't going to be drawn in that easily and start believing her story. Her eyes were staring off out the window again. The usual vibrant strength in them had been replaced with dull resign. It panged his heart to see them like that, even if he didn't know why he cared so much. Taking his weight off of her he kept the hand that held her arm in a still solid grip and lead her to the shuttle. She didn't put up any resistance and followed suit.

                Unbeknownst to Duo, Denis stood by the window and watched them go with great reluctance. "Good luck." He whispered out to the girl. What almost seemed like a whisper echoed through his mind and said, _As well_.

                Days past, to say the least. Duo kept them moving, he didn't want to stay in one spot too long for his own concerns and this mysterious would always get anxious after 24 hours in one spot. That was bad because it was annoying, and right now Duo had enough to worry about. He always kept in contact with someone in the group here lately, but ever since the appearance of the girl, he hadn't as much. Making up excuses would only get you so far if you were too tired to come up with more. Sleep was another issue. With all he had to do already, and now watching the girl 24/7, sleep came about an hour every few nights. Deep circles drew under his eyes, and if the other Gundam Pilots weren't suspicious before, they would be now. So, he didn't see them much or make video transmissions. This still didn't help Quatre who kept saying he was over working himself. Thankfully, Quatre hadn't said anything else to anyone else, otherwise Duo would have a lot of explaining to do if he was to be investigated. And explaining he couldn't do because he didn't have a good answer himself! 

Rubbing his weary eyes Duo finished his spot-check of his Gundam before going to the workbench to gather a few things to fix minor details. Usually it wouldn't be enough to even mess with, but across the room was the girl. She was staring out the window again, refusing eye contact with him. She was clean and in some spare clothes of Duo's that didn't quite fit her right. Barely a word was spoken after the last incident and it looked like she had made a vow of silence. This only annoyed Duo more, and in his no sleep and irritable mood, it caused for more than a few bursts of anger at her and other poor, defenseless, inanimate objects.

Climbing up the Gundam was an unusually hard task. His eyes desperately wanted to shut and his muscles didn't want to work. His foot slipped quite a few times, but he was slowly making his way up. He reached the point to which he would have to swing over the side to get to his objective and realized this required energy. Energy in which he didn't have, and knew very well, but was going to force himself to make it anyways. Taking a deep breath a voice shot through his ears and made him jump. In the next to dead silence it wasn't what you needed to hear fifteen feet in the air, ready to go higher.

"Stop." She said it again, this time more quietly and it made more sense to Duo.

He looked over at her in the little chair by the window. She was staring at him with a stoic face and her lips in that stubborn line that meant she wasn't going to say anymore. He glared at her. "What? Dropping the Mime Act so quickly? You haven't even gotten the lean right yet, but I'll admit your sit is perfect." He drawled it out with vicious sarcasm that wasn't his usual unhappy mood type. But, he was unusually pissed off.

She didn't say anything to him, just kept that stone face on and kept staring at him. Sending one last baleful look he prepared to force his aching muscles to make the jump/swing. Before he did though she spoke again, "Stop." She said it like a statement, no emotion, yet not a command. Had Duo been in a better mood this would have considered more thought, but at the moment he really didn't care.

"Unless you can give me a damn good reason for why you suddenly decide to talk just to tell me to not finish my job that I have to do, no." The last word was slow and drawn out with as much scathing as he could manage. She didn't flinch and stayed silent for a moment before responding.

"You're tired." She stated in that same commental tone.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Duo sneered, "But you aren't any help to that."

"You're the one who keeps me here." Her tone of voice didn't change, but the fact that she said something like that stunned Duo for a moment.

Recovering he snapped back, "If you tell me what's going on maybe I'll let you go."

She stayed silent and he figured she wasn't going to say anything else. He smirked at her in a "told you so" manner. Then he shocked her by saying, still in that tone of voice, "Perhaps if you would stop assuming that I am trying to kill you and find pleasure in lying about everything, then we could have a better conversation."

Duo was practically dumbfounded by the fact that he had just been thinking that right before she had said it. A thousand possibilities ran through his mind on how she had done that, having gone through too much to find it coincidence. What he really wanted to do was just ask her, but his pride refused to sink to her level and let he win. Then she spoke again.

"How? Because I was trained." She said it matter-of-factly and acted as if it as everyday she could know exactly what someone was thinking.

That annoyed part of Duo that had gone through so many night of no sleep and less coffee glared at her and thought, _Prove it._ What he hadn't expected was how she did.

Standing gracefully from her chair she ran headlong with incredible speed at the Gundam and Duo. With one foot she stepped on the workbench and propelled herself forward. Taking hold of a small nitch in the metal work of the Gundam she pulled herself higher while making a rock climb effect up and towards Duo. She was going so fast it didn't matter if she had footing or not and she made it look easy. Fascinated, Duo had no time to react as she came up to him, hooked one arm around his waist and dragged him down with her down the path he had just come up. When their feet touched ground she wasted no time and took his disorientation to her advantage. Propelling him backwards he landed heavily as he tripped over onto a bench.

Duo blinked a moment and then, anger flaring, tried to get up. In a flash she was over him and pushed him back down and held him there with a lot of strength for his tired body. "And now I'm supposed to believe you are on my side?" he growled, which was weak from exhaustion.

She didn't answer, only blew softly at his eyes. Confused he shut them automatically to prevent them from stinging. Placing her other hand over his eyes she held him there. The only thoughts running through his mind was how many different ways he could be cussing her out had he had the strength to open his mouth. Lying down, eyes closed, in the dark – because of her hand mostly – all his exhaustion was catching up on him in a crushing blow. No matter how hard he tried to fight off that sleep a light, nagging voice in the back on his mind kept chanting softly, _I'm too tired, I'm too tired…_ until eventually he couldn't take it any longer. In other words, Duo was out like a light.

After that groggy, still asleep, eyes not wanting to open phase was over, when Duo woke up his first thought was _Bitch._ He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but he knew he wasn't on the workbench anymore. The cushion under him and the blanket on top was proof of that. Wherever he was, it wasn't anywhere near his Gundam. The room was pitch black and it had that small feel to it. Anger would have fueled Duo a while ago had his muscles wanted to react that fast. Eventually adrenaline drove through him and he threw back the covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed. To immediately stump his toe into something hard. Stifling a sharp cry, he picked up his injured foot and nursed his unlucky toe glad that it wasn't bleeding.

To his right a sliver of light came. Maybe it was good that he didn't get up and try to find the door, he would have gone left. The door didn't open much, just enough to let in a slender body before it was quickly closed again. Since he was still half asleep and it was still pitch black, if Duo had to find the door in a hurry again, it would be next to impossible. She stood there for a moment, not making a sound. Duo wondered if she still thought he was asleep. Then he felt pressure on the bed beside him and realized that she had padded across the room without a single noise to give her away. He hated it that she could do that.

"Sleep well?" she whispered it so soft that he couldn't tell if there was emotion in her voice or not.

"How long have I been asleep? Where am I? What did you do?" he asked, still a little mad that she had won the battle before. Not that it was much of a battle.

"I didn't have to do anything, you were too tired." She said calmly and continued after a short pause, "You are in the transport ship along with your Gundam heading for a small abandoned satellite. You were asleep for 16 hours and twenty minutes." It was said almost as an after thought, as if he wouldn't notice the amount of time that way. But he did.

Duo felt faint. 16 hours? He was bound to have received a mission by then. On the transport? How had she moved the Gundam? How did she know how to fly the ship? Had he truly been that tired? Of coarse that matter was obvious, he was still tired. He would have been in a better mood if he hadn't been so worried. If she thought she was helping him, then she was dead wrong. She had probably ruined everything. He had probably gotten a miss-

"You weren't called." She interrupted his frantic thoughts. Annoyance crept into her voice a little. Not for the first time, Duo was speechless. She continued. "You were tired and it was easy taking you to the ship without waking you. I've seen you move the Gundam to the transport enough times to know how it's done. This craft isn't that hard to fly. Everyone's worried about you not getting sleep, so they weren't going to call you anyway. They _have_ noticed."

Still, Duo could only gap at her. She had done it again, known exactly what was on his mind and answered him. This couldn't be coincidence, but what else could it be? The rational side of his mind kept running through different theories. Maybe he had talked in his sleep. Maybe she had interrogated him and he didn't remember. Maybe-

"Maybe your irrational side is right." She interrupted his thoughts again.

"No." Duo was on the brink of hysterics. This couldn't be happening. "No." He said it again as if to fortify his own doubts and not really to disagree with her.

"Why not?" she replied softly.

"Impossible…" he couldn't say anything else.

_Is it really?_ She had said it, it was her voice. But he hadn't heard it with his ears. It was said in his mind. As if he had thought it in her voice and her manner.

With a jump Duo edged away from the spot she was at. This wasn't what he needed first thing in the morning. "Stop." He whispered like a desperate command.

"You want to know my story, you want to know what's going on. But every time I try to tell you, you refuse to listen, or to even try. Do you want to know or not? If you do, Then you have to trust me." She started in a whisper but it slowly gained volume. Annoyance and anger could be heard and he knew she didn't like how her voice betrayed her.

Duo was starting to get unnerved by the darkness and with everything that was going on his pulse was high. That rational part of his mind told him that what she said had a good point. _Just whose side are you on anyway?!_ He screamed at it. Then remembered she could possibly know that he was arguing with himself and felt foolish because of it. Taking a shaky breath, he whispered out. "Then talk."


End file.
